Great article, I'm drooling as I'm typing. Am trying both the Cherokee Purple and the German Green this year, along with a couple other heirloom varieties I got in seed swaps. This should be interesting.

That is a great article and some really nice pictures, Melody. I am like the rest and can only dream of eating those delicious home grown tomatoes right now but what a nice dream it is on a cold winter day!!!!!

was excited to read your article because i am going to try tomatoes this summer and spend a lot of time thinking about which ones, plants or seeds, store bought or catalog ordered etc --now i can add heirloom vs regular--and i need to find out why heirloom seems to be special

Heirlooms are special because someone has taken the time to lovingly save the seeds from their very best fruits for planting next year. They have a rich, true taste that I prefer.

Hybrids have generally been bred to make nice, perfect fruits that ship and store easily. This is usually done at the expense of taste, as the big seed companies breed for looks instead of what's inside. There are a few good exceptions, and a home grown hybrid is waaay better than it's supermarket cousin.

Some say that heirlooms are more disease-prone and don't produce as many fruits. Well, that may be somewhat accurate, but not really either. All tomatoes will be suseptable to disease. The hybrids that have the disease resistant labels are just that...'resistant'. They will get diseases too, they may last a week or two more than an heirloom, but not much.

Hybrids have been bred to produce more tomatoes supposedly, and possibly they do in some instances, but would you rather have 50 average tomatoes, or 30 wonderful ones?

I prefer the heirloom and Open Pollinated tomatoes. There are a great number of old commercial varieties that have great taste that weren't actually family saved.

Big Boy, Celebrity, Bradley, Jet Star, are all good hybrids.

I just prefer to think that I'm carrying on someone's legacy by keeping the old seeds around. It may be the only thing they left in this world when they passed. I have a connection to each person who consciously saved the seeds for future generations.

melody thank you for taking the time to educate me--oh i want the 30 wonerful tomatoes!! that is a nice thought to think of someone saving the seeds and just passing them from generation to generation--i used to think heirloom was just some nice term used to sell--i guess like saying "special"--i know, i know--how can i be this age and not know better?! i am glad to have learned just what it means

Yeah, I'm a bit like Pavlov's dogs when it comes to thinking of beautiful vine ripened fruits in all of their glory. I was wistfully dreaming of warmer days with more exciting veggie choices when I wrote this...can't you tell?

Yep, and it put us in dream mode around here too. Albert read your article and started getting that LOOK in his eyes that he gets when he starts to plan his spring garden. I really do hope we have better gardening circumstances this year than we had last year.

Wonderful article--thanks. I prefer heirlooms and open-pollinated, too--and have had good luck in our NM high desert climate with 2 in particular--Kellogg's Breakfast (love it) and Thessaloniki (a large red). I'm trying Aunt Ruby's German Green this year for the first time--wish me luck! Your picture and description make me even more eager to see how it turns out.

Melody, I hope you are recovering from your accident. What better things to dwell on than thinking about springtime and growing your wonderful tomatoes. I have several which came from you and think of you each time I grow them! I owe my Grandfather and Grandmother for my interest in gardening.
I have a few packages of frozen tomatoes. The growing and the tasting provides experiences others have encountered over the years. For me it reminds me of blissful summers and cold winters when soups and sauces warmed the heart bringing back memories of boyhood days long ago.
You get well soon! You hear!!!
Gary

I'm 'hobbling' around a bit, but for the most part, still house-bound. If it were just one broken ankle, I think I would have been out and pretty much doing as I pleased, but since both were broken, and there was so much tendon and ligament damage, I'm still pretty unsteady.

I'm finally feeling like myself though, the last 8 weeks were kind of a blur.

Praise the Lord that you are back on your feet, even if there are still problems. It will all work out eventually but you will need to take it easy and not overdo for quite a while. I know that will be hard for you but that is so much better than it might have been if you had been hurt more seriously. You are still alive although you are bunged up. I thank the Lord for that, my dear friend.
Love you buches,
Elena.